Italy’s likely future Prime Minister Meloni has announced a kind of “Italy First” course. It is about defending national interests. Gazprom surprisingly announced that it would no longer supply gas to Italy.

According to the likely next prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, Italy will focus more on its own concerns in the future. The right-wing politician announced this in her first public speech after winning the parliamentary elections almost a week ago.

“Italy must go back to defending its national interests first,” Meloni said in Milan. “That will change in the coming months.” The party leader of the far-right Fratelli d’Italia added that this does not mean a negative attitude towards others but a positive attitude towards oneself.

Meloni thinks that Italy allows itself to be bossed around by European partners and Brussels and does not have equal rights. For example, she referred to the German government’s decision to spend up to €200 billion to help consumers and businesses cope with rising energy prices as a result of the Russian war in Ukraine.

At the same time, however, Germany refuses to support a European price cap for gas, as requested by Italy and other countries. She said that if her government takes a similar measure, it should not be seen as a populist, nationalist response but as a strategy to defend national interests.

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